Banana Caramel Smoothie

It took me a long time to warm up to protein powders. The first few I tried were terrible — they tasted off at best, and bitter at worst. I figured that protein powders were for people who were into weight training and not people who like their food to taste good. (Guess which of those categories I fall into?) But then a year later, I gave them another try and realized that there were plant-based protein powders that actually tasted good. Imagine that!

At my first midwife appointment, we talked about nutrition and the fact that I needed to consume at least 70 grams of protein a day. 70 grams! In the past year, I had just started keeping track of the protein I was eating and I found that I really had to be mindful to even get 50 grams, so eating 70 grams a day seemed impossible, especially when I had aversions to almost all of my usual protein sources — tofu, lentils, beans and nuts were out of the question.

Thus began Operation Stealthily Healthy Smoothie — because I knew that smoothies would be the best way for me to work a large amount of protein into my diet in a small package (or glass). Back in the carefree days of yore, I used to throw lots of greens and fruits and seeds and whatnot into my smoothies, but those pesky food aversions meant that the very thought of spinach in a smoothie made my stomach turn and fruity smoothies didn’t appeal to me either. So my objective was to create smoothies that tasted like milkshakes.

One of my favorites was a frozen banana blended with almond milk, a scoop of Chocolate Vega One, a tablespoon each of chia and hemp seeds, then swirled with a ribbon of peanut butter. And then there’s this Banana Caramel Smoothie, my other favorite — dates, almond butter and French Vanilla Vega One combine to give this smoothie a caramel flavor. Yes, really! If you like bananas, use one that’s nice and ripe; otherwise, a less ripe banana will lend creaminess to the smoothie without adding a pronounced banana flavor (a trick I picked up from Kare). And the awesome thing about Vega One is that it’s not just a protein powder, it’s an all-in-one nutritional shake with 6 servings of greens in each scoop — so I’m still getting my greens in these smoothies without feeling like I’m sipping a salad through a straw.

I discovered Vega products about a year ago and they’ve been a staple in my pantry ever since. The fact that Vega One tastes good is a given — if it didn’t, I wouldn’t buy it. But I also love the fact that it’s vegan, non-GMO and made from real, whole food ingredients. Add it to a smoothie and you basically have a complete, nutritionally balanced meal in a glass.

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About Vega

From snack bars to all-in-one nutritional shakes, Vega makes plant-based nutritional supplements formulated with whole food ingredients. One scoop of Vega One contains 20 grams of protein, 6 servings of greens, 1.5 grams of Omega-3s, 1 billion CFU of probiotics, not to mention a significant portion of the daily recommended amount of vitamins and fiber. It’s 170 calories per serving, with no sugar added and the best part? It tastes delicious!

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Comments

Thank you for posting! I will try it out as I have been looking for a way to get more veggies and protein into my kids’ (and my) diet. Hopefully the “disguised as a chocolate milkshake” thing will work.

Another great brand that I’ve used for years is Garden Greens. The chocolate and vanilla protein shakes are both awesome. They also have an amazing smoothie powder called AcaiSplash that is loaded with antioxidants and tastes amazing with a banana or avocado and a little vanilla protein powder. Yummers! Thanks so much for sharing your recipes.

YUM! I’m a big fan of smoothies, especially ones with nut butter! I also add vegan protein powder in for an extra protein boost. Not sure if you do this at all, but I throw 1/2 scoop of protein powder into my pancake batters and mix it in with my cereal sometimes. It definitely helps me get that extra protein that i can easily forget about (give me all of the complex carbs!).

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Oh, hello! Welcome to Oh My Veggies, a vegetarian food blog with a focus on easy recipes made with fresh, seasonal ingredients. We're all about unfussy, delicious meals that anyone can make. When your food tastes good, you focus on what's on your plate, not what's missing from it! About Oh My Veggies

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